Essential oils are much-loved in the world of health and wellness. They can be used to ease stress, boost mood, relieve pain from headaches and migraines, help you a better night's sleep, reduce nausea, and even repel insects.
One of the lesser-known essential oils that is slowly gaining popularity is oregano oil. This type of oil is, as the name suggests, made from the oregano plant, and is said to have a whole host of healing properties. Both the herb and the essential oil of oregano have been used for medicinal purposes since ancient Greek times when treating patients for their respiratory and digestive ailments.
Research shows that oregano oil has antimicrobial, antiviral, and antifungal properties. Not only that, but the compounds found in oregano oil are thought to be antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, and cancer-suppressing.
If you don’t know much about oregano oil, it’s time you learned a bit about it. We’ll be covering everything you need to know about the oil’s health benefits in this video.
Experts have found that when you consume oregano oil, it can aid the flow of bile into the digestive organs. This is because of its antibacterial and antifungal properties, which help to rebalance bacteria and fungi in the gut. The oil has even shown promise in being effective against pathogens that are resistant to antibiotics and antifungals.
This essentially means that if you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, or other digestive issues, you may want to explore oregano oil. It’s worth discussing this with your doctor first, though, as the nature of digestive issues can vary big style from one person to the next.
When we’re hit with a cold or the flu, our bodies will usually kick into action and fight the pathogen that has caused the illness in the first place. But it’s always wise to give our bodies a helping hand in the process, and that’s where oregano oil can be used.
Not only does oregano oil have antibacterial and antifungal properties, but it has also been found to be effective against certain viruses, especially viruses that can affect the respiratory tract. This is because it contains something called thymol, a natural fungicide with antiseptic properties.
As a result, experts think the oil can protect against toxins. Oregano oil is particularly effective at helping to loosen or eliminate the build-up of mucus and phlegm in the respiratory tract, and can also soothe inflammation that causes chesty coughs.
Oregano oil's main ingredient, carvacrol, has antiviral and antimicrobial properties. This makes it a great antidote for a number of bacterial infections that could cause stomach upset and sickness. One study found that carvacrol effectively keeps food-borne pathogens like E. coli at bay – so it’s a good one to keep handy if you’re unfortunate enough to experience food poisoning.
The bacteria-based benefits of oregano oil don't stop there, either. The oil’s antibacterial properties can be effective against types of bacteria that live in the digestive, upper respiratory, and urinary tracts, which helps to fight infection.
If you live in a country that’s plagued by pesky bugs at certain times of the year, keep a bottle of oregano oil handy as a bug repellent. By simply using the oil in aromatherapy around your home, you’ll be able to keep the bugs outside, where they belong.
Quite a bit of research has been conducted into how this aromatic oil repels bugs. It’s thought that its main active ingredient, carvacrol, may help when it comes to repelling lice, fleas, mosquitoes, and bed bugs. One study found that oregano essential oil showed more potential as a repellent compound than a commercial product called 33% DEET against bed bugs.
So, you know what to do next time you’re dealing with bugs – skip the brand names and consider oregano oil as a natural alternative!
As we get older, our susceptibility to disease increases. Take cancer, for instance – one in three of us are thought to fall ill with the disease in our lifetime. While there’s no avoiding some of the harsher diseases, there are certain natural plant sources that are thought to help you stay healthier for as long as possible. Oregano oil is one of these sources.
One 2017 report found that oregano oil may play a role in keeping tumours at bay. Researchers studied oregano oil's potential benefits in lab environment cancer models and noticed that it displayed a tumour-suppressive effect in the breast cancer model in particular. More studies will need to be conducted before this can be confirmed conclusively, so it’s always necessary to speak to your doctor about essential oil therapies before using them for anti-tumour purposes.
We all experience muscle stiffness from time to time, whether we’ve worked a little too hard at the gym, or we’re dealing with chronic pain on a daily basis. No matter what type of muscle pain or stiffness you’re experiencing, oregano oil may be your new best friend.
A number of studies have shown promise when it comes to the pain-reduction aspects of compounds in oregano oil. These studies have specifically looked at inflammation reduction, which can, in turn, lead to pain and stiffness reduction.
As an anti-inflammatory, it makes sense that oregano has proved effective in reducing inflammation, and therefore pain, in muscles. So, if you’re aching after a strenuous workout, turn to oregano oil. Try creating a mixture with equal parts oregano oil and olive oil, and applying it topically to the affected area.
If you have a bruise and want to heal it faster, turn to oregano oil. Its anti-inflammatory properties may help reduce the swelling and pain, as well as increase blood flow to the area, which can help speed up the healing process. While it’s often used to reduce the appearance of blemishes and signs of aging, you can also benefit by applying oregano oil to bruises as well.
Again, create a mixture with olive oil and a carrier oil, like coconut or olive oil. If quickly applied, the oil should reduce your bruise size and appearance, as well as soothing any pain caused by inflammation. Make sure to only apply diluted oil to your skin, as it’s too harsh on its own. Repeat if necessary, and say good-bye to unsightly green-blue skin!
On the subject of skin, you can also use oregano oil to treat poison ivy rashes. These nasty welts in the skin are caused when you come into contact with the poison ivy plant and can last from five to twelve days. Luckily, you can quickly soothe a poison ivy rash with a dash of topically applied oregano oil.
Oregano oil is effective in dissolving the poison ivy resin that causes the itchy rash in the first place. This is due, in part, to its anti-inflammatory properties. They help calm swelling, redness, and itchiness.
To try this remedy out yourself, you can use oregano diluted with olive oil and carefully apply it to the affected area. This combination will help soothe a poison ivy rash in just a few hours. Repeat if and when necessary until the rash starts to heal.
Allergies can hit us hard at any time of the year. Whether you’re affected by pet fur, dust mites, pollen, mould, or insect bites, the symptoms of swelling, redness, a stuffy nose, coughing, sneezing, and itchy eyes are enough to drive anyone crazy.
Luckily, experts have found that oregano oil can provide all-natural relief from environmental allergy symptoms. So, if you want to avoid medications, it may be the ideal treatment for you. The oil’s anti-inflammatory properties work as a natural antihistamine, which can help to reduce swelling and fluid build-up caused by allergy symptoms.
If you haven’t got any allergy tablets to handy, oregano oil may be a good second-best for you to try.
We all know that there’s no magic bullet when it comes to weight loss, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still benefit from eating the right foods to help keep your weight in check. Oregano oil has been found to be particularly effective against weight gain in research that has so far been conducted.
It’s thought that the main ingredient of oregano, carvacrol, is the reason for the essential oil’s usefulness in fighting weight gain. The oil may even lower cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood.
Additionally, weight gain has been linked to inflammation, so oregano oil, which has promising anti-inflammatory properties, may help. Even more impressively, the oil may help your body to decrease the production of new fat cells.
If you frequently suffer from yeast infections, you may benefit from adding oregano oil to your diet. One 2001 study found that oregano oil was able to completely inhibit the growth of Candida, a type of fungus that causes yeast infections, in participants. Not only that but when oregano oil was used as a daily supplement, it was found to be a highly effective treatment and preventative of candidiasis, a common yeast infection.
The two naturally occurring antimicrobial agents in oregano oil, carvacrol, and thymol, fight Candida overgrowth by reacting with the water in your bloodstream, which dehydrates and kills Candida yeast cells. Oregano also contains thymol and eugenol, which are effective in not only killing fungal cells but also the Candida-causing microorganisms that are resistant to many antifungal drugs.
As is the case with all essential oils, there are some instances when you shouldn’t use oregano oil for health purposes. If you’re pregnant, you should avoid using the oil, as it may induce bleeding and potentially cause harm to the baby. You should also avoid using oregano oil if you have high blood pressure, heart conditions, liver damage, epilepsy, or any other major health concern.
In all cases, it’s highly recommended that you do your research before using oregano oil to treat an ailment, and it may be worth consulting a medical practitioner before using oregano essential oil for therapeutic purposes.
There are so many uses of oregano oil, ranging from medicinal and therapeutic to cosmetic. You can use it in many forms, including as a massage oil or gel, as a sanitizing gel or spray, in topical skin creams, and in soaps shampoos.
You may be able to find oregano oil in your local health and wellness store. Failing that, you’ll find plenty of options for buying the oil online. Just make sure you purchase from a trusted seller with a high rate of customer satisfaction by viewing some of the below products.
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